The number is ... 2
Aug. 21—MOSCOW — Saturday's scrimmage at the Kibbie Dome was all about twos for Idaho.
It was the second fall scrimmage, It marked two weeks until the Vandals season opener Sept. 3 at Washington State, coach Jason Eck narrowed the quarterback competition to two and two drives ended in one-play touchdowns.
Here are some takeaways from the second fall scrimmage:
Quarterback competition down to two
Eck said after Friday's practice Idaho would narrow down the quarterback competition to two from four after the live-game scenario and eventually reach a decision on a starter by game week against the Cougars.
In a post-scrimmage "chalk talk" for season ticket holders, Eck confirmed the competition between CJ Jordan, J'Bore Gibbs, Gevani McCoy and Jack Layne is down to two.
Layne has been practicing with the first- and second-string offenses the past two weeks but missed the scrimmage with a minor injury.
If the scrimmage is any indication, McCoy might be one of the final two.
The redshirt freshman went 10-of-14 passing for two touchdowns and won the Battle Ax award for his efforts.
The team does not plan to publicly announces who the final two quarterbacks are or who the starter will be.
Freshmen continue to show out
Eck's first recruiting class is making an impact in practice, and that trend continued in the scrimmage.
Running back Anthony Woods, from Palmdale, Calif., took a handoff 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of one drive.
"Everybody was hyped," Woods said. "I just want to thank the (offensive) line for blocking their (expletive) off."
Eck had high praise for Woods afterward.
"We know Anthony is very talented," Eck said. "He reminds me a lot of Pierre Strong, who we had at South Dakota State. Just the speed and how he can go."
On defense, cornerback Ormanie Arnold, from Long Beach, Calif., was another standout.
On the third-to-last drive, Arnold had two pass breakups, one of which could've been an interception, and a big hit on Jordan that stopped a potential first-down scramble. It was Arnold's first day back at camp after an injury.
"I thought he was impressive," Eck said. "He made some nice tackles coming up (the field). He made some nice plays in coverage. That's great to see. He's a guy who had a great summer. ... (Strength and conditioning coach Caleb) Heim is really high on what he did this summer, and we'll see. We're thin at corner so if we can get him going, that's great."
Another rookie who made a great play during the scrimmage was Trais Higgins, out of Nampa, Idaho, who caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Gibbs over a defender. It was his only catch of the day.
Improvement from offensive line
The Aug. 11 scrimage saw a dominant performance from the defensive front seven, and left the quarterbacks not having time to throw in the scrimmage. The battle in the trenches this time was more even between the lines.
Aside from the one huge run from Wood and a couple quarterback scrambles, the defense did a good job limiting run yards.
The defense was credited with a few sacks, but the pass protection for the quarterbacks was improved. Gibbs, Jordan, McCoy and Ridge Docekal combined to go 15-of-27 passing for five touchdowns — four passing and one rushing — and no turnovers.
"I think (the offensive line) did a pretty good job," Eck said. "I would hope we had a few more sacks. I think we had one sack with the ones where we were whistling (the play) dead, but you never really know on those. Unless you're live you never really know whether it's going to be a sack or not, but I thought (the offensive line) hung in there and battled pretty good."
Injury updates
Top receiver Terez Traynor missed the scrimmage but is expected to be back before the opener against Washington State. ... Layne and senior offensive lineman Jason Hahlbeck are also supposed to be back in practice this week after missing with minor injuries.
Kowatsch can be reached at tkowatsch@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @tkseahawk13.
